Letters from Father to Daughter

When she went through her own arc of growth and crisis, it was her father’s letters to which the actor turned for comfort and guidance. During her first heartbreak when Pooja thought “I would die”, Mahesh advised her: “When the house is burning, don’t try to put out the small fires. Pour more gasoline and let it burn down fully — and then, start from scratch.”

The unconventional wisdom of the letters that spelt out the importance of freedom and choices drew Mumbai-based theatre person and filmmaker Satchit Puranik. The 35-year-old, who studied film editing and video direction at Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, was introduced to the genre called Documentary Theatre in Amsterdam. “It is Theatre of Fact where people from different walks of life come on stage and recreate their experiences,” he says.

He decided to put the real-life father-daughter duo on stage and read from their letters. “The most seductive part of the Bhatt family is that they have lived in the public sphere and been vocal about their beliefs. We will attempt to chart their personal story as well as the political, socio-cultural and aesthetic evolution of the city as it went from Bombay to Mumbai,” says Puranik, who plays a postman, who is the sutradhar in the play. The play has been produced by Delhi-based actor Imran Zahid.

The script travels the arc of the family. Mahesh went from the shadows to becoming one of the living legends of cinema. Pooja, 44, turned into a bold producer of films such as Tamanna, which had a eunuch protagonist, and Jism, a sensual thriller. There are glimpses of events such as the controversy that surrounded Zakhm, Mahesh’s biographical film about his Muslim mother, in 1998. “It was considered a pro-Muslim film. Mahesh said he would release it abroad but he would never allow his voice to be censored. Ironically, the film won the National Award for National Integration,” says Puranik. He is jostling between titles such as The Art of Letter Writing, Letters That I have Never Replied To and Letters from Bombay to Mumbai.

One of contemporary theatre’s iconic plays was Tumhari Amrita, performed by Shabana Azmi and the late Farooq Sheikh, based on Love Letters by AR Gurney. Puranik’s production with the Bhatts will get a different treatment — with live music, poetry and movements. The play will also see Pooja on stage for the first time since 1999, when she performed Neil Simon’s Ought to be in Pictures in the US. “I will also be acting after 15 years. I guess, there’s no escaping that one,” she says.

The performance will include a letter that Mahesh writes to Pooja as she embarks on a new career as a documentary producer. “What does it mean to make art in a troubled time?” asks Puranik. One of the recent letters from Mahesh was delivered around a fortnight ago when Pooja was travelling to Pakistan to meet friends. “I told him that I may not come back since the relationship between the two countries was fraught. The two countries are like warring parents and the child is confused. My father wrote me a letter that said, ‘My child, use your tact. I see a lot of myself in you’. I told him that it was too late for tact. My life has already been shaped by the letters he had written to me,” says Pooja.